Women who join sororities are more likely to judge themselves on their appearances and display bulimic tendencies, according to a new study published in the journal Sex Roles.

Each year, thousands of women participate in the rush process to join sororities on college campuses across the United States, and millions of women around the world are already initiated members, according to the National Panhellenic Conference, an umbrella group for 26 international sororities and women's fraternities.

Yet, while sororities were created to provide college women with opportunities for personal growth and enrichment, researcher Ashley Marie Rolnik reports they are often criticized for their potential to lead women to focus excessively and unhealthily on their appearances.

"I was drawn to this study because I'm interested in social groups that promote a culture of thinness among women," says Rolnik, who chose the topic for her senior honors thesis at Northwestern University. "I am specifically interested in sororities because of their norms and standards regarding the body and appearance."

But do sororities get a bad rap? "Leading with values" is the motto for the national chapter of Pi Beta Phi, yet, several weeks ago, the Cornell University Pi Beta Phi chapter was thrust into the headlines when the sorority's dress code was leaked to IvyGate, an Ivy League school news and gossip blog.

The guide includes "yes" and "no" lists of acceptable and unacceptable clothing, shoes and accessories for all occasions. "No's" include muffin tops, camel toe and pleather, with a special consideration for satin dresses that explains, "No one looks good in satin dresses unless it's from Betsey Johnson or Dolce and Gabbana, you weigh less than 130 pounds, have three pairs of Spanks on and it's New Years Eve."

The media does its part to play up the view of sorority sisters as mean girls obsessed with thinness and beauty, in movies such as "The House Bunny" and "Legally Blonde." There's even a Facebook game called "Sorority Life" with more than 5.7 million monthly users. To advance in the game, you do things like socialize, fight, rank girls on how "hot" they are, choose a sweetheart, shop and go to the spa -- all of which earn you virtual money, confidence and influence.

Edie Feinstein, a sophomore who recently joined a sorority at Cornell, tells ParentDish she can see how sororities have earned this reputation.

"As much as they say it's not based on appearances, the whole rush process can be very demeaning if you're not comfortable with yourself," Feinstein says. "If you're shy or don't put yourself together well, then you won't do well getting into a house."

The study supports this, reporting that women who rushed and ended up joining a sorority were found to have higher levels of body shame just one month later.

Feinstein says she understands how this can happen to new pledges, since they suddenly find themselves in a house surrounded by hundreds of young women telling you if you look good, influencing the way you dress, even prompting you to exercise, as "nobody wants to be the fat girl in a sorority," she says.

Women who dropped out of the rush process, the study shows, were found to have a significantly higher body mass index [BMI] than those who pledged -- yet those women were not found to be overweight. They had healthy BMIs on average, but were just less thin than the women who actually joined sororities. The researchers concluded that rather than an anti-fat bias at sororities, a bias exists against women who don't live up to the "thin body ideal," not the healthy body ideal.

Lauren Hildebrand, a New York City-based sustainability consultant who pledged a sorority at a small college in Pennsylvania in 2000, disputes the stereotypical view of sororities.

"There are some sororities that probably demanded a certain look, which might have been a lot of pressure for people pledging," she tells ParentDish. "But there were also others that were more open and diverse -- it really depends on the individual sorority you're rushing."

Whether or not today's sorority women focus on designer dresses and the perfect pair of shoes, the study concedes it is possible that the sorority rush truly has no effect on the way women look at themselves. It suggests that women who hold these views and women already engaging in, or at risk for, eating disorder behaviors and attitudes may be more likely to participate in sorority rush, and that membership in a sorority may "amplify pre-existing, problematic attitudes and behaviors."

Rolnik tells ParentDish via e-mail that she is "hoping to do more work with this population in order to gain a better understanding of what is going on [body/eating/appearance-wise], and how intervention and prevention programs can be created in order to suit the needs of sorority women."

When contacted by ParentDish to comment on the study, NPC chairwoman Eve Riley gave the following statement by e-mail: "The National Panhellenic Conference does review surveys for distribution to its members under its Research Committee. This student thesis was not submitted for our review, so we cannot comment on the results, how the survey was conducted or validity of the sample size. The National Panhellenic Conference is one of the largest and oldest membership groups for women and is often asked to participate in surveys. We were not asked in this instance and are not familiar with the journal in which it was published."

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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)

Being a guy, I was obviously never in a sorority. But I think it would depend more on the sorority itself. At Saint John's University in Queens, my alma mater class of 2004, that would have to be the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. When I was a student there, every girl in that sorority was, um what's the word... oh yeh: hot. There was not a single overweight or plain looking girl in that sorority, unlike most of the other sororities. Obviously Phi Sigma Sigma was the most discriminating sorority on campus, or still is, and thus the most likely to have sisters with eating disorders

To say that all members of a particular sorority has eating disorders, tweaked body image or is discriminating (when it comes to looks) is not only crazy, but also demeaning and prejudiced. I'm not a twig (175 is not twig-like), I don't have an eating disorder (never had one), I'm book-smart and I'm a sorority alumna. And although I am a member of the Phi Sigma Sigma fraternity, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. I'm happy to say that the women of San Francisco State don't discriminate when it comes to looks, appearance, body type or sexual orientation. We found each other because we have the same values. I know that I can go to any Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and know that I will be able to get along with any of the girls.

It's not about looks, it's about friendship, life-long friendship that can only get stronger over time.

I am a senior in Tri Delta, a large NPC sorority. Our executive office ("nationals") has a program called Relfections Body Image Campaign and "Fat Talk Free Week", which are both about promoting a healthy body image. These programs encourage women to see the inner beauty in themselves and find new ways to take care of themselves.

While I respect the findings of this study and definitely can say that at certain chapters at my university, body image is definitely an issue, I believe it would have been appropriate to bring light to programs like these (as I am certain other NPC organizations have similar ones to ours). The one-sided nature of this article could potentially be very misleading.

I can't seem to figure out whether American thinks its problems is that we're all overweight, or not overweight enough. When I see an article criticizing sororities for *gasp* "encouraging their members to exercise" then I really start to wonder where America's priorities are.

Maybe we need some more organizations like this out there getting young people to get off their asses and start exercising/eating right, and quit blaming their life's problems on their own bodies and a society that won't accept them for being fat. Give me a break. Fat is not who you are, it is what you have become because if your unhealthy lifestyle which should no longer be encouraged and which you should no longer be consoled for participating in.

I would believe that some sororities have issues with body type, but not all. Although, I was in a sorority where there might have been another image -- beer drinking -- not slimming, but potentially dangerous.

No one wants a fat sorority sister? No one wants a fat anyone! Sororities are not unique in this regard. I'm a Sigma Kappa and my sorority also insisted that I get good grades, care about my community and become a well-rounded person. My sisters were white, black, wealthy, middle-class, Christian, Jewish, and ran the gamut from over- to under-weight. (I was the underweight one. It's wasn't a body image issue -- it was a metabolism issue.) No word on whether the researcher was ever a sorority member or what questions were asked to reach the conclusion. Yes, sorority stereotypes abound. It's easy to see those that meet the stereotypes. Much harder to notice those that don't.